


Last Chance

by WhatifStoryTeller



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, Baseball, F/M, Fem!Natsu, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Misunderstandings, Slice of Life, Teen Romance, Unrequited Love, genderbent
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-22
Updated: 2015-03-01
Packaged: 2018-03-08 16:14:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 9,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3215441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhatifStoryTeller/pseuds/WhatifStoryTeller
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gray has always trailed after Natsha and he was fine with that until their time together was cut in half, getting shorter with each passing day, and a new player entered the field. How is he suppose to make his love apparent when Natsha always thinking about fighting and baseball? Why does his heart ache for such a troublesome girl?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Gray stood outside her door. His backpack slumped against the mailbox. His tired eyes started to slowly close until he shook the sleepiness away. He felt misery that morning. He felt misery every single morning. How he managed to get up was still a mystery even to him.

The door of the petite house slammed into the wall, leaving a bigger crack than before in the wall. The person who caused it did not even seem to notice it, even when a voice from inside shouted at her. She only snickered in response and made her way down the three steps, right to the gate where Gray waited.

"Yo," he greeted with his hand weakly raised.

"Morning," Natsha replied, folding her arms behind her head and yawning. She cracked her joints before returning her hands at her side. Her wore out backpack hanged from one shoulder, jolting as she moved down the sidewalk.

He followed after her, and paused when they gotten to the corner. She rose onto her tippy toes, peaking above the bushes down the street, and went back down when she saw no one.

"Where's Lisanna?"

Gray only gave a slight shrug. "Maybe her parents drove them to school?" he suggested. As soon as he finished that sentence, he yawned and wiped his eye. "Come on, I don't want to be late again because of your slow ass."

"No one ever said you had to wait for me, asshole." She crossed the road without any indication to Gray, leaving him behind at the corner before he raced to catch back up.

As soon as he gotten back to her side, he shook his head. "You miss too much school. If I'm not here, then you'll repeat the whole grade, idiot."

Someone snickered behind them. Gray stopped in his tracks and turned around, while Natsha stayed oblivious to it.

Loke stood there with a smirk planted on his face. "What type of an excuse is that? 'Because you'll repeat the whole grade'?" The orange haired snickered once more. "At least come up with something better than that next time."

"Huh?" Natsha finally turned around and looked at the newcomer. "Oh, hey Loke."

"Hello," Loke bowed, "Natsha-chan." When he lifted himself up from his bow, he winked at Gray, who now bore a blush. He glanced over his shoulder once more, "Guess Lisanna-chan isn't coming today." He sighed and shifted his sunglasses, and then a thought came to mind. "Hey, Gray, mind if I borrow your notes?"

"As long as you keep your mouth shut," Gray uttered under his breath. Now his blush was fading away, and he kept a step behind Natsha.

Loke snorted and shook his head. He leaned into Gray's space and whispered so Natsha could not hear. "I've been keeping it hush for years, and quite frankly, I'm tired of it."

"Then forget it."

All of Loke's cheeriness disappeared. "It's too oblivious to not notice."

Gray raised his hand over his nose and mouth, biting his tongue. Really, did a guy have to be reminded twenty-four seven about this fact? Couldn't he get a break? He was already tensed as one could be, but everyone had to hassle him.

"Hey, you guys listening?" Natsha was staring at them from over her shoulder, a little annoyance in her voice.

Loke took a step away from Gray and joined up with Natsha. "What was it?"

"I was saying that I'm staying afterschool, so don't wait for me."

"Oh yeah," Loke nodded, "It's baseball season again." He blinked, and a smile appeared on his face as if he just had an idea. "Do you think it's too late for me to join?"

"Ask the coach," she shrugged, "I think it's a little late, but if you show some skil-"

"I have lots of skills," he smirked.

She blinked, nonchalantly, and said with a grin, "I don't think those count as skills."

"I guess we will see then," he flexed his arm but Natsha did not seem to be fazed by that.

"I'll still beat you in an arm wrestle."

"Bring it."

She cracked her knuckles and grinned. Both of them stood on the sidewalk, and Gray, thinking to himself, bumped into them. All three of them fell onto the pavement, with Natsha being the bottom.

Gray uttered a small sorry before standing up and reaching his hand out for Natsha to grab hold of. Loke stood up as well and dusted off his pants.

"Can't you ever watch where you are going?" Natsha taunted before lifting herself up.

Gray's hand dropped to his side. "You two were the ones who decided to stop in the middle of the sidewalk."

"We were going to arm wrestle," Natsha argued.

"Wait until we are in class then. Cana will have a fair with that."

"Party pooper," she uttered under her breath before adjusting her backpack and following the two.

Gray, going against what he was feeling, grinned. He really wanted to whack her sometimes. And this was one of those times.

It didn't take them long until they arrived in front of the school with the morning bell ringing. The students raced inside of the building, shutting their lockers or walking to class with their friends.

As soon as Loke walked into the building, one of the girls pulled him to the side. He gave a sent a small glance at Natsha and uttered, "Sorry." Then he left the duo.

"I'll get him tomorrow," she stated in determination, raising her fist in the air.

"Don't come crying to me afterwards."

Her grin quickly turned into a scowl. "What is that suppose to mean?"

"I'm just looking at your history," he shrugged.

She elbowed him in the ribs, and fasten her pace so she was walking ahead of him. "Then you should remember me beating your ass multiple times."

"Are you sure you wasn't dreaming it?" He flicked the back of her head in a retort.

"The only time I'm dreaming about you is in nightmares." She pretended to shiver in fright and he ended up right back at her side.

"Ha. Ha. Ha. So funny."

She swirled around, with her classroom right across the hall. Her friend was hanging outside of the doorway and grinned when Natsha dashed from Gray's side to the classroom.

He stood there in the middle of the hallway with an idiotic smile before the warning bell rang.

It didn't take him long to backtrack to his classroom, which was near the entrance of the school. Loke was waiting for him at the entrance of their classroom. He wasn't wearing his cocky smirk, which meant something happened while Gray was away.

They pulled their seats out from under the desk, swung their backpacks over the chair or under the desk, and turned to face each other.

"Break up?" Gray asked before the orange haired could even say a word.

"I hate you sometimes."

"So, is that a yes or no?"

"Yes," he sighed and laid his face on the desk.

"Sixth this year."

"Yes, yes, remind me of my past when I'm depressed. You really do know how to lighten my day, Asshole."

A chair on the side of Loke was pulled out and a black haired boy seated himself. He didn't glance at Gray or Loke as he pulled out his books and laid them on the desk. A purring sound came from his wore out backpack.

Loke and Gray exchanged a glance.

"You brought her again?" The raven haired asked.

There was a second pause before the newcomer answered. "It's too cold." He kept his eyes between the bag and his desk, never once looking at the two friends.

"Rogue," Loke called out his name and the boy finally looked his way. "I got dumped. And the only way for me to not die from listening to Gray's mouth is letting me pet her."

His eyebrows notched together, and glanced at Gray. "Really?"

"It's the sixth one," Gray answered with a smile. "She didn't even wait for him to say hey this morning, she just pulled him away."

His eyes returned on Loke, who now wore a begging pout. "Fine." Rogue leaned down to his backpack and slowly unzipped the bag. He searched around the room for any sighs of the teacher before his hand went inside and took out a small greenish-gray cat. The cat was only a few weeks old. And, with her parents absent, Rogue took care of her.

As soon as Loke touched the cat, she started meowing in disarmed. Loke stared into Rogue's eyes, trying to get any instructions on what to do. He placed the kitten against his chest and with his other hand; he gently petted her head and ran his hand across her body. "Is she hungry or something?"

"Cats just like to meow," Gray said. He, a little harshly, petted the cat's head.

"Fro doesn't like new people."

"Fro?"

"She killed a tadpole yesterday; I thought it was a nice name."

"Killed?"

Rogue nodded. It wasn't much of a kill since the tadpole was out of water and was moments away from dying, but Fro did chomp her teeth into it, ending his short life.

"Can I use her?" There was a devilish smile on Loke's face.

"That sounds so wrong…" Gray muttered to himself.

"No," Rogue denied.

"Why? See, she's making me smile now. Just wait until she bites one of Savi's fingers, it would be priceless!"

"No."

"Why?! You're killin' me, Rogue!" Loke turned to get Gray's help.

"It's his cat." He shrugged.

Rogue took a hold of Fro and placed her back in his bag. She meowed at first before there was silenced and then snoring.

Loke sat there with a frown.

And Gray gazed out of the window.

…

The last bell rang and the trio left the classroom. Gray glanced behind him as if looking for someone but people pushed him forward. Somehow, he was grabbed away from the pushing crowd, where Loke found shelter and Rogue soon joined.

"Something is missing," Rogue uttered, glancing back to the disbanding clutter.

"Actually giving a damn for something other than your cat? That's a first."

Loke snickered at Gray's remark and flicked his finger over his shoulder. "Natsha-chan's staying over for practice and Lisanna-chan's out cold."

"Ah," he uttered, "Crowd's gone."

Both Loke and Rogue turned to leave, while Gray was looking for a head in the crowd.

"Just go to her before we cringe to death."

"What do you mean?"

"You're looking for Natsha-chan."

Rogue nodded.

"Whatever," he shook his head and swung his backpack on his other shoulder. He turned and faced the entrance, "Come on, let's go."

Loke leaned over, whispering into Rogue's ear. "I think Gray needs his own cat."

"A white one would be good for him," he nodded in agreement.

"I'm not getting a cat!" Gray called back.

"White cat for sure."

And the three walked out of the building and headed to Loke's house, where milk was given to the smallest member of the group, and the gaming section began.


	2. Chapter 2

The door was gently pushed opened and she stood there on the other side of the door. Her bangs, glistened in sweat, hanged against her forehead and the rest of her cherry blossom hair was held up in a simple ponytail. Her eyes dropped with exhaustion, and she shoved her way through his doorway without any welcome.

"Well, hello to you as well," he grumbled with a little irritation. After closing the door, he followed her into his living room. It was common for Natsha to show up at random hours at his house, being the closest, as well as the only friend of hers that had good notes; since most of Lisanna's notes were either covered in fur and other substances he would rather not think about, while Sting still brags about remembering every single thing when he still had trouble recalling his phone number. At least Rogue can actually remember the lessons, but getting him to explain it was a whole other deal.

And then there was Loke's…

He still had nightmares about those.

Natsha threw her backpack onto the ground next to the table. It looked like she didn't even go home before coming. "Can you help me?" She dropped herself onto his couch and leaned over the table, taking out her items.

"You really, really need to learn to wait for an answer before doing." He threw his dampen towel in the corner of the room. His bare chest, gleam from the shower, offered no reaction from Natsha either.

"It gets things done quicker," she shrugged. "So can you?"

"Fine," he faked a sigh and went to the other side of the couch. A small smile tugged at his lips as he glanced over his shoulder at her, but then dropped when he saw the mess forming. The table was filled with crumpled papers, broken folders, a slice of what he would call molded cheese, and finally, her textbook. "Not even a minute in, yet my house looks like your room."

"Hey!" she raised her finger, "This is actually cleaner."

"What an accomplishment."

And she, very elegant with her words and will become a president with great speeches that lasts through the decades, leaned forward and demanded, "Shut up, and give me the answers."

Oh, what presidency it would be. Just him thinking about it brought tears to his eyes.

He took one of the scattered pens and straighten a piece of plain paper out. She turned the book to the right page, "1-20, all even questions, and the section at the bottom."

"You really do hate me," he rolled his eyes.

"Come on, Gray." She pointed his chest with the end of her pencil. "Do math."

He looked her straight in the eye."Two compliments for each."

Natsha's cheeks swelled up as she pretended to barf over the couch. She went back to facing him. "I rather go to Loke's." She started to lift herself from the cushion, when Gray stopped her.

"He can't even do his own notes, he couldn't even explain how to factor x+9 and x+1 out of x^2 + 10x + 9, yet alone college algebra…remind me again why you are in this class?"

She sighed and returned. "Alright…this is gonna kill me." She took a deep breath. "You have wrinkles in your forehead reminds me of my grandpa. That one strand of hair is shiny, when was the last time you washed your hair? And your one straight tooth is fairly white in the right lig-"

Gray had to stop her right there. He raised a finger up to her lips, and grumbled, "Who the hell taught you how to compliment?"

"I learn from the best," she shrugged her shoulders and leaned back on the couch, allowing herself to relax her tense muscles. "Hey, I did what you demanded. Now, gimme the answers, calculator."

The one thing that he knew from hanging out with Natsha, she always knew how to irate him. Yet for some odd reason, he secretly enjoyed the attention.

It didn't stop him from flicking her on the forehead.

"Bad calculator!" She snapped his nose in payback.

"You're going to regret that!"

It didn't take long. Actually, this was probably on the record for the shortest time it took until an argument broke out.

The two of them were between the couch and the table, rolling around, with their hands gripping on the other's clothing. The pencils rolled off the table and dropped onto them, but at the moment, neither cared. The whole point of why she was there was forgotten as they threw insult after insult. Both of them tried to pin the other one down, pushing the furnation farther apart, until Gray was on top of her.

He held her hands to the ground. Her shirt was pulled down, being pressed between their bodies, and allowed her cleavage to be shown. Her sparklingly brown eyes glared at him, full of anger, as well as hints of hunger.

Ur's head peeked from the hallway and stared at the display before turning her back and entering the kitchen. She laid her jacket and shirt on the wooden chair, which Gray heard and lifted his view from Natsha's beautiful form onto his mother.

"Natsha-chan, will you be staying for dinner?" Ur, wearing no expressions of astonishment and only a motherly smile, looked at the two as innocently as ever. Her bra was in plain sight, and even then, Natsha did not react, yet it cause Gray to mumble a curse at his mother.

Gray speedily lifted himself from on top of Natsha and pulled himself onto the couch. A glowing blush rested on his cheeks, a blush that Ur quickly caught notice of and only grinned more brightly to herself.

Natsha, eager by the mention of food, promptly said yes without any hesitation. She lifted herself, using Gray's leg as support, and dropped herself back onto the couch.

"I hope chicken tenders will be fine."

"Anything's fine," she nodded.

He raised an eyebrow, always ready to counter her every statement. "Even shit?"

"Gray~!" Ur's singsong voice echoed through the house. "Language~!"

"Of~ Course~!" He mocked his mother's tone.

"And it looks like you'll be the one eating shit tonight," Natsha remarked, adding a huge grin for her excellent comeback.

"Natsha~!"

Both Gray and Natsha shared a glance, both knowing Ur's next word, and waited, but it never came. They chorused a sigh of relief, and relaxed against the couch cushions. And then they finally remembered as to why Natsha was there in the first place. Natsha opened the book once more while Gray picked up the pencils and papers on the ground.

Ur stepped out of the kitchen and stood behind the couch, looking over their shoulders. "What are you doing here, Natsha-chan?"

"Homework."

"Oh," Ur nodded, "I see."

"You may need to return your calculator." She raised her pencil, poking at Gray, who swiftly bit the end sticking out at him.

"Eh? I do?" Ur made eye contact with her son. "What's 2 plus 2?"

"42."

She smiled sweetly and shrugged her shoulders at Natsha, "There's nothing wrong with it."

Natsha snickered at their little act. "Try asking 1 plus 1 then."

"Gray," Ur started.

And he answered, "H with a dash."

"Correct!" The mother cheered, and giggled. She headed back into the hallway. "The chicken will be done in 10."

"That's 40 seconds, don't ya know." Gray nodded idiotically at Natsha.

"Alright. When did Loke get here?" She started looking around for the sassy, cold-shouldered boy.

He finally shook his head. "I can't go on with this anymore. I feel like I'm losing braincells by the second."

"That's how I feel all the time."

"Poor girl."

"Hey!" She bumped him with her shoulder and shoved a pencil in his hand.

"Fine, let's get to working."

After finishing problem 4, the timer rang in the kitchen. Gray was the one to pull the burnt tenders out and set the tenders onto the oven top, and filled a plate with them; and somehow his pants disappeared between the two places. Natsha didn't wait to grab a plate as she already started ripping them into pieces.

His mother arrived to the scene, now wearing only her underclothes. She looked at the overcooked tenders with a frown. "I guess I was off by a few minutes…"

"Or by a few 100 degrees." He gave a weak shrug and pulled a set out for himself.

"Maybe Natsha-chan would cook for us next time then." Ur took the seat across from the two kids.

At the sound of her name, Natsha refocused on others in the room. "Huh? Did I miss something."

"No, sweetie."

She nodded and went back to filling her gut.

They made small chat as they emptied their plates. One question that Ur ask was, "What college have you decided on going?"

"Dragneel University. The one in Joya."

"That's a bit far away, don't you think?"

"I'll manage. I heard that Rogue and Sting was heading up there as well, Sting's going to Sabortooth, while Rogue's heading to Dragneel with me."

Ur turned to look at Gray, "And, have you decided?"

After a second pause, he shook his head. Saying that he wanted to head to Dragneel out loud seemed like an idiotic move. Natsha would probably think he's stalking her, and he could not blame her either. He did want to head to Dragneel University, but there was another one that interested him.

The raven haired woman tirelessly nodded at his answer and dipped her tender constantly as if she was in thought.

Their dinner was soon over and the two went back to studying. It didn't take them long to finish the assignment, but it was around nine when Natsha finally left their home.

It didn't take Gray long to sleep that night. He felt tired as hell from being so close to her, and that position his mother found them in, made him unnerved. Through his sleep cycles, he came again and again to imaging the pink haired girl sitting across from him, and saying, "You are the coolest bastard ever."

Yet, he always ended up hearing, "You have wrinkles in your forehead reminds me of my grandpa."

But he still smiled.

That was one of her few visits to his house during her baseball season. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really don't update on this account as much as I should. Sorry!


	3. Chapter 3

Loke hopped on Gray's desk one school afternoon and waved his phone in Gray's face. "Lucy-chan finally said yes!"

He raised his eyebrow. "Out of pity or some shit?"

Loke rolled his eyes and dreamy gazed at the number. "All of that work finally paid off!"

Rogue entered the room and Loke bragged about it to him as well. The only thing that Rogue could response with was, "Yeah?"

"Your guys' lives would be dreadful without me, y'know."

"How so?" The two distant people asked, nonchalantly.

"You both are pussies."

"And?"

They heard that remark so many times that it didn't fazed them at all.

"Obsess with a kitten. Too coward to get a girl." He held his hands out to each of them. "I rest my case."

Gray and Rogue shared a look and flipped the desk over. Loke fell forward, right into the desks in front of them, which was luckily empty at that moment.

"Ops," Rogue uttered calmly.

"Sorry," Gray said without a hint of any regret.

They both looked at him as emotionless as ever, blinking as if nothing even happened.

Loke flipped them off and fixed the desk. He moved his own desk away from Rogue's and Gray's. "I'm staying after school."

"So no games?"

"…You guys aren't even wondering why…"

"You got a girl, every time that happens, game session ends."

Rogue turned to Gray.

Neither one of them had games, which was the only reason why they kept Loke around. Well, and he wouldn't leave them alone. And Rogue had to get on the bus to get back home. He only went along with them to Loke's because of their arrangement with his sister.

"Ugh," Gray leaned back in his seat before Rogue could speak a word, "I hate when this happens." He was hoping that Loke would at least wait until spring break, but Loke was half rabbit, part alien, part lion, and a frog.

"Don't worry, it won't last long." The black haired shrugged.

"Hey now!" Loke turned back around in his chair and pointed at Rogue. "This is Lucy-chan, not like the others."

There was a moment of silence as it all settled in, and all three laughed. Soon, the teacher came in and began teaching class. Gray leaned back in his chair and stared out the window without a purpose.

…

He picked up a crippled up piece of paper and tried once more to throw it in the trashcan. It bounced against the edge before going inside with the rest of the papers. He blew his hair out of his face and fell back onto the bed; his scattered clothing provided cushion.

"I'm bored," he mumbled for what felt like the hundredth time that evening, and glanced at the clock.

4:24 p.m.

It has only been an hour since he gotten home from school and even flipping through the channels didn't entertain him. He threw the remote across his blanket, even knowing that later on, he wouldn't be able to find it, and lifted himself off the mattress.

Gray slide the laptop out from under his bed and cocked it between his arm and side, and left his boring room. He passed by Ultear's room and then his mother's; neither one of them was there at the moment. His older sister went off to college a year prior, which was lucky for Gray, and his mother was working until late. Her only day-offs were Monday and Wednesday; those were the days that Gray clogged his nose when walking into the kitchen.

He flung himself on the couch and laid his laptop on top of his chest with no clothing in between. He could already felt the heat from the fan. It didn't take him long to login and open .

Three messages, one event, and no new friend request.

Just as how he liked it.

Well, other than the event.

Other than Loke's blind date 'events', or weddings invitations from his mother's friends, Gray usually never gotten any of those.

The first message was from Loke, who decided it was the best idea to send Gray numerous pictures of their outing. Gray didn't even bother to reply and open up the second one.

It was from Sting, Rogue's friend who thought Gray was his own friend. Sting reminded Gray too much of Natsha, which was a bad thing. He already had enough of Natsha in his life already. But the message was a simple greeting and Gray responded.

And, finally, the last message. It was a group message with Lisanna and Natsha.

Oh great.

Since Natsha's baseball season started, he hasn't seen much of her other than in the mornings and that one afternoon. And they were never alone in the mornings with Loke and Lisanna.

His heart thumped against his chest.

He's been doing well on avoiding thinking about Natsha, but now his thoughts lingered. Maybe he should have walked her to practice, or even watch her play. It wasn't as if she told him not too. Just like walking her to school, which ended up becoming the norm.

Plus, he was always playing games and catching up on homework when he gotten home that he didn't mind for the time being.

Yet, now he felt it.

Gray didn't even read the message or event. He jerked upwards, closed the laptop and slides it under the couch, threw on a jacket, and left his house.

That was his problem. He waited for her every sign to make a move.

The raven haired didn't exactly know what his problem was today, but he felt it today.

He felt alone.

Oh great, he was going emo.

And he's pretty sure only crazy girls liked that.

Not dangerous girls like Natsha, but the girls who fight over their fictional characters or brag about drinking blood.

He rather keep the taste of blood out of his mouth.

Ugh…

His cheeks started to blush as he ended up thinking about something he shouldn't think about.

Get a girl first, and then think about that shit.

It didn't take him long to get to the school. There were only a few people there. Some teachers stayed after school; he could tell by the cars outside building. Most of the activity was behind the school building. It was a diamond-shaped field with seats behind a fence; a few of them were filled by parents, friends, or lovers. He mostly saw students, since parents liked to come when it was over.

Lisanna filled one of the seats. She was cheering Natsha and Elfman, her older brother who played the catcher. Natsha was playing for the offense for this practice. Both of them were wearing their gym clothes instead of uniforms, and she had her hair tied in a ponytail.

And Lisanna was the only one he recognizes out of the group, so he took the seat next to hers. As soon as she turned and saw him, her face turned paler than it was.

"Gray-kun?" Her sweet petite voice questioned. Her nose was still a slight pink from her cold, but other than that, she looked fine.

He blinked as if there was nothing to question about. "Decided to come," he shrugged as if there was no big deal.

"Oh, you got my message." Her thin lips slowly pulled back into a friendly smile. "Natsha-chan's next to bat," she nodded her head in the direction of the field.

"Great, this should be good." He blurted out without thinking. Sarcasm was starting to become his default.

Lisanna gave him a friendly jab in the ribs. It wasn't as hard as Natsha's, it was more of a faint touch than anything.

"Sorry," he mumbled. He leaned back in his seat and raised one arm over his head. Others couldn't see where he was looking, but he had his sights set on the pink haired that walked out next to the base. Elfman stood behind her; his husky form was towering over hers until he bent low to the ground and sent a single to the pitcher, who returned it.

Natsha lifted the bat to her shoulder and glared at the white-haired pitcher who wore a baseball cap. He bounced the ball in the air, placed it back in his glove, spat onto the ground, corrected his cap and finally, he threw the ball.

It sped through the air.

Elfman lifted his glove outwards.

Natsha swung her bat.

The wooden surface met with the baseball and flung it backwards. The ball flew through the air, speeding past the pitcher and onto the outfield. She dropped her bat onto the ground and ran for first base. Another runner ran to third, glanced over his shoulder, and tried for the home.

He was only steps away when the ball was sent back to the person on third. He ran after the runner and Natsha ran for second. Her foot touched the base at the same time that the ball touched home, before the runner gotten there. There was no running back.

The runner was sent back to the batting line and Natsha stayed on second. The ball returned to Lyon, who pitched it once more.

This was also when Natsha sighted Gray in the bleachers. She stood there even when the next batter ran for first. Finally, she shook the shocked feeling away and continued, but it was oblivious that she still had plenty of questions.

This was how the game went for the next hour until practice was over. The coach blew his whistle and the equipment was returned. It took a few minutes until Natsha emerged from the backroom, wearing her school clothes instead of gym clothes, and her hair was down; flowing past her shoulder and resting on her back.

Gray and Lisanna walked over to greet her, and Gray was meet with widen eyes stare down. "What is he doing here?" She pointed at the raven haired, looking at Lisanna.

"He came to watch the practice, silly." Lisanna smiled with her eyes closed and gently pressed Natsha's arm back down to her side so she wasn't pointing at Gray anymore. And her smile sent chills up Gray's back. It was the same smile that meant she knew more than what she was letting on.

Why the hell did everyone know?

Why couldn't they be oblivious like Natsha?

Then again, that may be asking for too much. Natsha had that look perfected.

He tried to stay calm and raise his hand in a weak greeting. "Nice game."

Natsha seemed to forget about her questioning and looked down at her bruised knuckles and irritated skin from holding the bat so tightly. "I still need to practice."

"Coach-san already called the equipment," Lisanna said, "So you can't stay after today."

The door opened up and that guy from before walked out. His white hair shined in sweat, and he brushed it back with his wore down hands. He stood behind Natsha and looked over at Gray strangely. He didn't even try to greet him before turning to Natsha, assuming a cool expression. "Loosen your grip; tighten it at the last moment. Or else you will have stiff hands through the whole game."

Gray clicked his tongue. He didn't like this guy's presence. There was something about him that bothered Gray to no ends.

"Lyon-kun!" Lisanna grinned fondly at him.

He raised an eyebrow and nodded his head as a way of saying hello. He turned his focus back onto the pink haired. "And pay attention to the game." He side-glanced Gray before moving away from their group.

"Lyon-kun! Wait!" Lisanna tried to get his attention, but he was already going by the school building. She sighed and her shoulders slumped. "I was going to introduce you guys."

"That guy…" He didn't finish his sentence. The other two seemed to like this new guy, for some reason that Gray couldn't place. He just felt disturbed when that guy came, and that glance in his direction. Did he really think Gray was a bother? All that Gray has done was shown up; he didn't mean to throw off Natsha's attention.

"Maybe he's right…" Natsha uttered. She was now lost in her own little world while staring at her hands. She cracked her knuckles and stretched them, thinking about the words that Lyon told her.

"I thought you were good." The words came out of Gray's mouth before he knew it, and quickly, he turned his head away, hoping they wouldn't notice his now-forming blush.

"Really?" Natsha asked, hopeful.

"Yeah, you show Elfman-nii whose boss," Lisanna took Natsha's hands. Now the two were gazing in each others' eyes, Lisanna grinned and Natsha did as well.

Gray bit his tongue.

So cute.

Too cute.

Maybe he shouldn't have come. He was only getting in their way.

The pink haired roared in excitement. "Then I gotta train harder!"

"Game's next week," Elfman finally came out of the building and rested his hand on Lisanna's shoulder. "I'm gonna show everyone how a man does it!"

"You couldn't even score a homerun this game." Natsha stuck her tongue out at him in friendly manner.

"Sun was in m-"

Natsha snickered at him, and started heading towards the parking lot; the other three followed behind her. She swung her gym bag over her shoulder and moved along the sidewalk. Lisanna stepped next to her, leaving Elfman and him walking behind.

This wasn't as how he pictured walking Natsha home, but at least he didn't feel that lonely feeling in his chest. Instead, he had the same feeling when he first started hanging out with Natsha that thumped against his chest.

A metallic blue car slowed down next to them and the window rolled down. Lyon glanced out of the open window, right at Natsha. "You want a ride?"

Gray was really starting to think this guy hated his guts, but it seemed as though Elfman had the same thoughts. Natsha couldn't even answer the pitcher because her stomach rumbled, and Elfman roared, "What about us?"

"No room," Lyon answered coldly. "There's no backseat," he added, thinking he came off too strong.

"What a nice excuse," Gray mumbled under his breath, where no one could hear.

Natsha shook her head, "My house is near, so there's no point."

"Suit yourself," he gave a weak shrug and rolled up the window. His car rolled past them, and as soon as he was out of their sights, Lisanna raised her hand and giggled into it.

"Why didn't you say yes?" she teased her friend.

"Eh? What's the point? My house is near, plus I got motion sickness." She side-glanced a nearby car and her stomach grumbled, as if proving her claim.

Elfman blew air out of his nose and lifted his arms over his head. The two girls continued to talk about whatever girls talked about, so Gray moved closer to Elfman and leaned in. "What's with that guy?"

"Team captain and the new pitcher," Elfman answered, "This is the first season I've seen him at practice. I don't know what's his problem is though."

"He acts like he has his panties in a bunch," Gray commented with an aggravated tone.

"He never talks to anyone on the team but…"

"But what? Who?"

"Natsha-san," Elfman gave a slight shrug and looked at Gray as obliviously as one could be. Maybe the oblivious look wasn't just a Natsha thing, but Idiots' thing.

That was already apparent to Gray. The guy acted like cocky bastard, which was even more than how Gray and Sting acted combined.

And it wasn't as if Gray didn't have enough problems in his life.


	4. Chapter 4

He stood there on the bleachers, and sighed as the coach called game over. The spot next to him was emptied. As soon as Elfman heard Lisanna sneeze, the two of them flee to the nearest hospital in the middle of the game. The crowd on the bleachers littered out onto the field to congratulate the winning team.

Gray followed them down and leaned himself against the gate. His eyes, shaded by his hair, gazed at surrounded crowd. He peered through their bodies, hoping he could get a glance at the only person he had his heart ache for. There was no pink hair in the crowd, and he let out a sigh.

As the players cerebrated their win, a few of the audience started to leave. Even the losing team decided that it was time to go. Gray was the few that stayed out on the field as the players went to redress themselves. As soon as they came out again, they split off with each other and headed towards their friends.

Gray moved a little closer to that building. He watched as each member exited, waiting for the pink haired to show. He wanted to tell her something, which, for the first time, wasn't something rude. He never thought the day would come where he actually wanted to pat her on the back instead of whipping her ass.

Then again, he could do both at the same time if they were in bed.

Now Gray was starting to wonder if Loke was in control of his thoughts.

As he was badgering himself over that stupid thought, Natsha came out of the building. She had a grin the size of Joya planted on her face. And she had a bounce in her every step. She didn't look like she just played an intense game of baseball, instead she looked like she just graduated from school.

Her baddy shorts, a little longer now because of the cold weather, stayed against her tanned skin, while her blouse, showing a decent amount of cleavage, looked a size too small on her.

The boy, now seeing her, took a step forward. The door on the other side opened, and a white haired pitcher walked out. He glanced at Gray, with a smirk, and went up to the pinky, patting her on the shoulder. "Great job out there," he said. For once he sounded like he had emotions instead of sounding like a neural alien from a distant planet.

Gray couldn't help but feel Lyon meant to do that just to despise him. "Na-"

Natsha walked past him. Actually, she didn't even notice him as she walked along with Lyon. "We're on a winning streak! I can't wait to tell Lisanna about this!"

"That Elfman has bad timing… Just taking off like that in the middle of the game."

"That's Elfman for you," the girl shrugged. "He's always cautious."

"Exactly your opposite."

"Heh, I guess so."

Now, if Gray were to say that, Natsha would have taken that as an insult.

And the poor Gray was left there on the field as the others left.

Did she really just leave him?

Did she really forget about him? I mean, come on, he's been there for most of her games and he always paid for lunch every time that they won, which was every time that Gray shown up to the match. Did Natsha only notice him when Lisanna was around?

He walked himself home. Mad at the world, well mostly at himself and Natsha. Himself for being such a pussy, and at Natsha for her simple-minded natures.

…

Loke placed his head on Gray's desk and pressed his hands together in a pleading motion. "Please," Loke begged the raven haired once more.

"No," Gray answered without glancing away from his phone. He was on FairyTail, finally checking into that event that popped up a few days ago. It was about Natsha's game this week. He pressed accept without much thought and looked through the other messages. Maybe this time Natsha will remember him.

"But I'm so tempted!"

"It's not my fault you have weak willpower."

"It's always there, looking at me. I already deleted all of it off my phone, but I can't destroy this." He raised the black book to Gray's face.

The smell entered his nose.

He jerked back, his book clanked onto his desk, and he felt like he was about to puke. The girls around him started to move away, from the idea of throw up or the scent gotten to them.

"Please," Loke begged once more, unfazed by Gray's reaction.

"What the hell did you do to that?!"

"I've had this since fourth grade." He sounded proud of that fact. Then again, this was Loke. He was proud of anything, even when he made the biggest paper airplane and still bragged about it.

"Loke, I'm gonna be serious with you," Gray leaned forward and flicked Loke in the head, "There's some shit that I don't want to learn about you, and this is exactly that shit."

"Please."

"I'm gonna throw it away, you know."

"Gray-sama!" Loke went back to his pleading form, "This is my history. Each page is for a different phase. You can't."

Gray never wanted to hear _'Gray-sama'_ again from Loke's mouth.

His eyelids lowered halfway and finally he gave in. He slipped the ill token in the bottom of his backpack and cursed under his breath at the orange haired. Loke did not seem to notice, he was too busy cheering.

"Why the hell do you keep their numbers?"

Loke paused and winked at Gray, "You never know if when they change their mind."

"Even from fourth grade?"

"I'm still surprise they haven't blocked my number yet."

"I'm surprise they kept the same number."

"Oh that?" Loke snickered, "Don't worry, I always found it one way or another."

"If I was your ex, I would have become Amish then."

"If you were my ex, I would have killed myself."

Rogue, whose timing was perfect, stood between the two of them with confusion written all over his face. His backpack was practically empty without his cat napping inside; poor thing grew up too quickly. "I have no clue what happened, but please tell me you're not dating."

"As if you would care," Loke muttered under his breath. Once again, other than cats and games, Rogue barely thought of much else. Without having Fro in his backpack, the black haired acted like a zombie through the schooldays. Things like friends were more of an afterthought at most.

"Just the thought of it makes me want to skin myself." Gray commented with the same amount of disgust as Loke.

All of them shared a look and nodded.

"Agree."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No one told me I uploaded the wrong chapter... No one...


	5. Chapter 5

"Really…I'm thinking that guy hates my guts…" Gray uttered to Elfman as they left the white haired pitcher behind. Elfman blinked and nodded. "Probably."

"What do you mean?" Natsha called back.

Gray gulped, he was pretty sure that only Elfman had heard; he was going to tell the man about what happened last Saturday, after Elfman and Lisanna left. "It's just…" He looked over to Elfman for help, but the dark skinned man only shook his head. "I just get the feeling."

"What a puss."

"Hey!"

She shrugged and turned to Lisanna, who had a coughing mask over her face. "What do you think?"

"He's…quite distanced."

"Really?" Natsha raised an eyebrow. "I never saw that. He's always helping out."

_For you._

They all thought.

"Hm, I like him." She gave a weak shrug, and turned to look at Gray, "Oi, Gray, can you help me with my homework by the way?"

It took him a moment to understand that she was asking him a question; he was still taking in the first sentence. "You still gotta pay." He was still waiting for those last fifteen from last time, not counting those compliments-insults that she first gave him. And now, he was sensitive over his old man forehead wrinkles. Thanks Natsha.

The girl glanced behind her at her best friend, and jerked a thumb in Gray's direction. "Lisanna, pay him."

Lisanna looked at the two fools and shook her head. "That's a heavy price to pay, so I'll leave that to you. See y'all tomorrow," she waved as they came to the corner. She and her brother left, heading down the street to their own home; leaving Natsha and Gray to walk alone on the sidewalk.

She was always a step ahead of him, but he made sure the gap did not widen.

It felt nostalgic being back in this cycle, but he still held a little resentment from the past Saturday.

How long as it been since it was only them?

He couldn't recall.

It seemed like every time that they were alone Loke or one of their friends would join the mix, with good intentions of course. And then there was Lyon… Who decides to steal his girl away as soon as Gray has a chance.

In the mornings, he only had a few moments with her, and that was basically filled with her complaining about getting up and complaining about him coming to walk her to school. Then, he would not see her until the next day. But now, after he started heading to her practices, they were able to walk alone at last. Something that he missed, but he still wished that topic about a certain pitcher wouldn't be brought up.

Every time that this happened, he felt somewhat at bliss.

He should have listened to his gut a long time ago. Though he wished he didn't have to meet with that bastard in the first place.

The girl, on the other hand, paid no attention to him at all. She was too busy going back over her practice, repeating all of the pointers that Lyon told her once more; which annoyed him. The only thing that gotten her out of her daydream was of the sight of Igneel pulling out of the drive way. She paused in the middle of the sidewalk, waving at the red haired as he passed.

Gray did not notice.

He walked right into her. She tumbled forward, her knee scratched against the pavement while her head landed on the grass. He fell on top of her, his elbow scraped, while his other arm was reached out to stop himself from landing on her. He grunted as the hit jolted up his arm. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be able to arm wrestle for at least a week; then again, he didn't even arm wrestle. It was Natsha's thing.

His bookbag landed on the ground; his items scattered all over the ground.

Quickly, Gray picked himself up and had his hand reached out for Natsha to grab. The girl only glared at him before picking herself up and glancing down at the small scrape.

"Sorry," he stretched his arm behind his head and gazed at the ground.

"You really need to watch where you're going."

"I wonder if Rogue could spare me seeing-eye cat," he mumbled mostly to himself.

"That cat would run away in a week."

He rolled his eyes and her taunt, and stepped into the lawn and started filling his backpack. Natsha followed him, grabbing his items and throwing it inside. A small item had gotten her attention. With a snicker, she leaned over and picked up a black book. Her smile turned into a smirk, "What's this? A diary?"

Gray only rolled his eyes, thinking that she picked up one of his library books, and not that book.

She slipped through the pages, trying to get his attention to tease him some more, but when she saw that didn't work; she stopped on one of the pages.

Natsha was not expecting these written words.

It was not juicy details about one of his nightmares or wet dreams, but page with a girl's name, small description, and phone number. The description mostly covered breast size or small topics, such as what mad the girl wet.

Natsha was not smiling anymore. The book was bending between her fingers, before she threw it in the bag. It seconds, she left Gray there, kneeling.

"Huh?" He twisted around, extremely confused at the moment. He tried to gather the rest up, but when he was done, Natsha was already inside of her house.

He knew from experiences that Natsha would never answer the door for him.

What the hell was her problem?

What happened to the study session?

Did he smell?

…

"Lisanna," Natsha uttered into her cell phone. "Come one…answer already…" She sighed as the beeps gotten wider and wider apart. Her finger lingered onto the END call button, but the other end finally picked up. "Lisanna! Finally!"

 _'Natsha-chan? Hello?'_ The phone was close to Lisanna's mouth, and yet Natsha could still hear the animals chirping form behind. Natsha could barely hear the girl over the background noise, and Lisanna couldn't hear Natsha either.

"Are your notes still readable?"

 _'Huh? What do you mean? Do you need my notes?'_ The girl coughed into the phone, _'Sorry.'_

"Ye-"

 _"Give me a moment,_ ' Lisanna uttered as she made her way through the zoo, her house. There was noise of a door opening and closing, and then silence. _'Alright, can you please repeat that?'_

"Me needy help on homeworkie."

 _'Oh,_ ' she uttered and quickly commented with, _'And help with grammar as well.'_ She paused a second, _'Alright, I'll be over in a few. Maybe Mira-nee will drop me off.'_

"Thanks a lot, Lisanna."

_'No problem~!'_

After a quick goodbye, Natsha hanged up her phone. She sighed and threw it on the middle of her bed. She tried to make her room a little more welcoming by throwing the discarded clothes into her closest.

Which was the same moment that Igneel chose to walk by her door; he glanced inside and gasped in shocked. "Y-You're cleaning?"

"Gotta have more for a sacrifice."

He was about to question her, but this was Natsha and he knew better. She would only give him another answer to worry about. With a disapproving shake of his head, he moved on to his room, "Have fun." As long as she didn't burn down the house again, then it was fine. And if she was sacrificing a virgin, then he knew he was safe, but that couldn't be said for poor Gray-bo.

As soon as Igneel left, she snickered. "Works every time," she grinned and clapped her hands together. She threw another sock to the massive pile, and crossed her arms, "Looks clean enough."

In the middle of her room was a small table, usually littered with empty packages and bras, that was close to the ground. She lifted her backpack to her bed and dug through it for her ragged notebook and half-eaten pencils.

"Hey," Igneel came back to her door.

"Yeah?"

He licked his lips and bobbed his head towards the front room. "Did you by chance…invited a wolf over?"

"Oh!" She shot up from her bed and went pass him. As she gotten closer to the front room, she could hear the knocking and a slight heavy breathing. Natsha opened the door and Igneel was right.

"Hey! I'm here and I'm sorry!" Lisanna uttered before Natsha could ask. She waved her hand down at her wolf, "Luka-chan wouldn't let me go… She kept pouting and I felt bad. Oh, and don't worry, she's housetrain!"

"Please just tell me she doesn't have an appetite for paper."

"No…why would she?"

"Just looking at your pets' history…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Her hand lowered down and petted Luka's head. "Paper is bad for animals, you know."

Natsha shook her head. "Nevermind. Come on, Luigi and Isaac."

"I'm pretty sure she means us," the white haired whispered in her wolf's ear. "Though…she still hasn't learned the differences between girls and boys… Maybe Gray would give her a lesso-" Her cheeks flushed as she uttered those last words. "I've been hanging out with Sting-kun too much..." She sighed and shook her head.

"Hey, what's the hold up? I'm pretty sure there are no peeled bananas or blue shells."

"If there were any, they would be aiming for you…" She followed her friend into her room. "Wow, it's so clean."

"Now I don't have to do anything in Spring."

Lisanna nodded while Luka roamed around the room. She found a spot on the bottom end of the bed and curled up, right on top of Natsha's backpack. Yet the girl didn't seem to mind. She quickly sat down in front of her table, and Lisanna seated herself on the other side. Her backpack landed on the ground, full of feathers and fur, and pulled out her notebook full of bite marks. "Alright, let's get to work!"

"Wait, no payments?"

"No…?"

"No fighting?"

"No?"

"No burning cookies?"

"..?" Now, Lisanna was lost for words. She lifted her eyebrow at her friend, and made the connection. Natsha did ask Gray to help her with her homework first, and now she was asking her for help. "Did something happen with Gray-kun?"

"No!" Natsha blurted out and shook her head. "Come on, let's just work." She didn't even know what gotten her so out of it. Maybe Gray poisoned her with something. That felt like a perfectly logical reason to her.

"You…were the one who started it…" Lisanna looked at Luka for help, yet the wolf only yawned.

She really felt something was off, yet she had no clue what exactly.


End file.
